Benin collections at National Museums Scotland

For centuries the highly skilled artists and artisans of the Edo Kingdom have produced outstanding artworks of immense cultural value in the royal city of Benin in present day Nigeria. The invasion of the kingdom by British military forces in 1897 and their looting of the palace in Benin resulted in the sale and dispersal of thousands of these artworks into European and North American museums, including the National Museum of Scotland.

Today we are working to understand and share more about the provenance of these objects and the history and legacies of British imperial and colonial actions in Africa. As a member of the Benin Dialogue Group, we are committed to the reunion of these artworks through loans to a new museum being built in Benin City, Nigeria.

You can see a selection of artworks from Benin on display in the Artistic Legacies gallery at the National Museum of Scotland.